The French coach had previously suggested that Arsenal won’t repeat the Van Persie scenario but he has eaten his word as he confirmed the departure of the Chilean forward in his previous conference talk and the forward trained away from the first-team and with the club’s developmental squad on Thursday.

“Our fans know Alexis will not extend - they have accepted that idea and the fact it will not be one-way traffic,” said Wenger. “It will be other-way traffic as well and that makes the whole thing a bit smoother, maybe a bit less disappointing. We lose a player, yes, but we could gain another player. I think one would replace the other.” as reported by The Telegraph.

Wenger believes that the first £1m-a-week player has even become a possibility. "You cannot rule anything out,” he said. “We arrive at a level where the money for players who are free is so big, and the transfers so big, that the players think, ‘It’s better I go to the end of my contract’.

“We took Van Persie when he played in the reserve team at Feyenoord. We made a long work with him. When you get them there and, after they leave, that is the most painful.” he concluded.